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Clallam County adopts electronic funds transfer policy after public hearing
Summary
After a public hearing May 12, the Clallam County Board of Commissioners approved Policy 5.80 to permit electronic payments by ACH or wire, a change staff said is meant to reduce check processing, mitigate fraud, and formalize safeguards noted in state audits.
The Clallam County Board of Commissioners voted May 12 to adopt Policy 5.80, a new electronic funds transfer (EFT) policy that allows the county to execute payments by ACH or wire when appropriate. The policy was presented by county finance staff as a response to prior state-auditor recommendations and as a measure to reduce check printing, mailing costs and vendor fraud.
County presenter Jen summarized the policy to the board: "The goal of the EFT policy is to enable the county to be able to perform electronic payments via ACH or wires as they're necessary in order to reduce our check and warrant issuing, in order to reduce fraud and to set up some safeguards and parameters for the departments that are utilizing those services." An auditor's-office representative told the board the policy follows a management-letter comment from the state auditor and prior audits.
During the public hearing, residents raised questions about transparency and security. Ed Bowen urged clearer public documentation of coded EFT payments so residents can understand what each electronic transaction means. Bowen said, "ECHs for the general public are hard to understand because they're coded. Make sure the policy includes the intent that the public's view of these ECH payments are not encoded." County staff responded that the policy does not change the warrant-approval process and that documentation and committee review remain in place. Jen said, "There's no additional cost that's gonna be incurred or transferred onto any of the taxpayers or the public... It is just the execution." Staff also described the policy as a way to reduce fraud and printing/mailing expenses.
A commissioner moved to adopt the resolution; after a voice vote the chair announced the motion passed unanimously. The board did not specify a different effective date during the meeting; staff indicated the change is an administrative execution detail and that existing warrant and approval steps remain intact.
The adoption follows a work-session review by the county finance committee and input from the treasurer's and auditor's offices. The board closed the public hearing on the EFT policy at the conclusion of testimony and returned the item to the consent of the board for final action.
